Amore tra le rovine

A love letter to early Italian cinema, Love Among the Ruins is a faux documentary about the miraculous discovery and restoration of a long-lost Italian silent film. The genius of the Lumini brothers, two cinematic visionaries almost overlooked in the history of cinema, ignites the imagination of a contemporary filmmaker who makes the discovery of a lifetime.

In 2012, a 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck northern Italy, severely affecting the historic city of Ferrara and surrounding areas and causing significant damage to the region’s Medieval and Renaissance architecture. However, a cracked wall in Ferrara’s municipal building revealed a hidden treasure: several cans of old film. Could this be the long-lost silent romance written and directed by the Lumini brothers of Ferrara in the early 1920s? Can the deteriorated film be repaired so new audiences around the world can enjoy this moving story of lovers caught in the events of World War I?

Scholars speculate, experts and archivists hypothesize, and finally, the 90-year old film is restored and set to a new musical score. The talents of actors long passed away (or maybe not!) and the beauty of Ferrara in the 1920s (as well as today) are once again seen on the screen with a tale as striking and poignant for today’s viewers as it was nearly a century ago.